Whenever I begin a new exercise program, I feel great and wonder why I waited so long to start. It’s the same way with strategic planning. We all feel better when we are strategically fit. Unfortunately, as with physical exercise, a million little daily demands often keep us from doing what’s best for our long-term career health.

A lot of my executive coaching clients use me as their personal trainer for strategic planning. They could do strategy without me, but they want to do it right with the least amount of effort. I always start with a fitness assessment. To determine if you are strategically fit, ask yourself these questions.

• Does your strategy address the why and the what questions?that is, the business rationale and the applications plan—as well as the how and the who questions—that is, the technology and organizational elements? There are a lot of grand ideas without the legs to make them happen. Conversely, a lot of people draw up tactical to-do lists without the raison d’¿tre. Make sure you cover all the bases.
• Can your strategy be summarized in a few sentences? A health-care executive recently told me, "I think I have a strategy; I’m just unable to articulate it." If you can’t pitch it, you don’t have it.
• Are the benefits articulated as well as the costs are? A lot of strategic plans I review have entire appendixes dedicated to costs, while the benefits are bullet points listed on a single page. The value proposition should be as detailed as the costs.
• Do you have an implementation plan backed up with the money and resources to realize it? Can you measure and monitor success?

If your answers to the those questions uncover some weaknesses in your planning, you can use a strategy process that I recommend for my clients. I have adapted it from a Harvard Business Review article titled "Making Strategy: Learning by Doing" (November-December 1997) by Harvard Business School Professor Clayton M. Christensen.